INDIA FESTIVALS TO BE HELD MARCH 12-13 IN MELBOURNE; APRIL 2 IN ORLANDO

It’s the annual India Festival season. Here are some of the celebrations being held in the Sunshine State:

MELBOURNE (SPACE COAST)

Manav Mandir will present its 20th annual Indiafest 2016 on Saturday, March 12, and Sunday, March 13, at Wickham Pavilion, 3845 N. Wickham Road, Melbourne. There will be cultural and fashion shows, arts and crafts, Indian cooking demo, food, etc. The theme is “India’s Yesteryears” highlighted at the Discover India booth. Timings are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $5 for adults, $2 for children ages 12 and under and kids younger than 5 years are free. This year’s charity is Promise in Brevard, a place for young adults with special needs. Manav Mandir is holding a $100 ticket raffle to raise funds (about $110,000) to purchase a wheelchair accessible van for the charity’s residents. Raffle prizes are a Mercedes-Benz CLA, Apple MacBook Air and an Apple Watch. For information, call Yasmin Majeed at (321) 720-8590, e-mail info@indiafestbrevard.org or visit www.indiafestbrevard.org

ORLANDO/CASSELBERRY

The Hindu Society of Central Florida will hold its annual Festival of India on Saturday, April 2, on temple grounds, and the cultural program in the air-conditioned community hall. Admission is free with a $5 parking fee. The event, featuring a kids fashion show, dances, and booths for clothes, henna, jewelry and plenty of food, will be held from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at HSCF, 1994 Lake Drive, Casselberry. To reserve a stall/booth or register for cultural programs, visit www.hindutempleorlando.org For questions, call the mandir at (407) 699-5277 or Prashant Saoji at (321) 460-0800.

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Lakeland, Tampa and Orlando will hold their annual Ekal Vidyalaya fundraisers in March. Performing at the concerts is the Rajdeep Chatterjee Group along with singer Dia Roychowdhury, Sainik Dey on keyboard, Saugata Mukherjee on guitar and Sumit Guha on tabla. A finalist for “Indian Idol” season four, Chatterjee has song for such Bollywood films as “Bodyguard,” “Khiladi 786” and “Policegiri.”

Dia Roychowdhury and Rajdeep Chatterjee

The Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation (www.ekal.org) strives to bring education and village development to rural India. As a tax-exempt, non-profit organization, Ekal initiates, supports and runs non-formal one-teacher schools in India. The movement strives to create a network of non-formal schools and health education that will educate and empower children in rural and tribal India. Ekal schools operate on a minimal $1-a-day budget.

LAKELAND, MARCH 18: Dinner will be at 8 p.m. followed by the musical evening at 9 p.m. Friday, March 18, at Shri Swaminarayan Temple hall, 2793 New Tampa Highway. Entry and dinner are free with donation. For details, call Nilesh K. Patel at (863) 853-9315.

TAMPA, MARCH 19: The fundraiser will be on Saturday, March 19, at India Cultural Center, 5511 Lynn Road. Dinner will be from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. followed by the musical program. Tickets, which include dinner, are $25 and can be purchased at www.ekal.org Ekal 2015 and 2016 donors get four comp tickets. For information, call Dr. Umesh Choudhry at (727) 507-0584.

ORLANDO/OVIEDO, MARCH 20: The event will start at 5 p.m. Sunday, March 20, at Oviedo High School Auditorium, 601 King St., Oviedo. Entry and dinner are free. For information, call Suresh Gupta at (407) 619-1500.

MUSIC DIRECTOR DUO VISHAL AND SHEKHAR TO PERFORM APRIL 2 IN ORLANDO

Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani, popularly known as Vishal and Shekhar, will perform Saturday, April 2, in Orlando. The music director duo has produced big Bollywood hits such as “Jhankaar Beats,” “Dus,” “Bluffmaster,” “Om Shanti Om,” “Dostana,” “Ra One,” “Student of the Year,” “Chennai Express,” “Bang Bang” and “Happy New Year.” They will be joined by singer Neeti Mohan who has lent her voice in several films like “Sanam Teri Kasam,” “Bombay Velvet,” “Jab Tak Hai Jaan,” “Student of the Year” and “Baahubali.”

The duo gained popularity with the music score for “Jhankaar Beats,” which also earned them the Filmfare R.D. Burman Award for New Music Talent. They have been judges on TV shows like Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2007, Jo Jeeta Wohi Super Star, Zee TV reality show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa and Indian Idol Junior.

Presented by Krish Patel of Orlando and Satya Shaw, CPA, of Tampa, the concert will be from 8 p.m. April 2 at Orange County Convention Center, Linda Chapin Theater, 9800 International Drive, Orlando. Tickets start at $39 and can be purchased at www.bollywoodeventsfl.com For information, call Patel at (407) 454-3334 or Shaw at (813) 842-0345.

MARCH 23-24: HOLI FESTIVAL; organized by the Hindu Society of Central Florida; Holi bonfire will be set up on temple grounds and traditional ceremony from 6:30 p.m.; Dhuleti will be next day, March 24; HSCF Hindu Temple, 1994 Lake Drive, Casselberry; for information, call Mahesh Kapadia at (407) 902-8634 or e-mail info@hindutempleorlando.org